The Return of the Evil Clone
by DigiDestined of Courage
Summary: Taichi returns seeking revenge against Tai, and it's up to the original and newer DigiDestined (Seasons I & II) to stop him before he can enact his plans of revenge against Tai! Taiora in the epilogue that is short, but it's all I could think of at the ti
1. Prologue

Me: I'm back

Me: I'm back! And I don't own Digimon. 

Tai: That's a good thing. Who are the couplings now? Wait-let me guess. Taiora, right?

Me: Wow! I'm impressed. What'd you do-read my mind? 

Tai: I know you like I know the back of my hand. (looks at back of hand in shock) What the h**l is _that?_

Sora: (giggles) Sometimes Tai, you're too funny for words. 

Tai: I know. (kisses Sora) 

Me: (groans) Save that for the story! 

****

Digimon

The Return of the Evil Clone

Prologue

"Tai…don't do it. Please, he's too powerful for you to handle alone." 

"I've got you by my side. That's all the extra power I need. Don't forget-I'll always love you." 

"Tai, NOOOOOOOOOO!" 

Confused, huh? Don't worry: I'll backtrack a bit-about two or three days ago-and fill you in on the parts you missed. I'm Taichi Kamiya, but please call me Tai; all my friends do. 

It's been a little over a year since we first defeated my clone Taichi and banished him and Daemon to the World of Darkness. We've led some different lives since then. 

Most of us older DigiDestined are in college now-actually, all of us are! 

Joe's a college senior and still studying to be a doctor with Gomamon as his assistant-apparently, Gomamon refuses to be called Joe's nurse! 

Mimi and Izzy are both college freshmen and enjoying life away from their parents just like the rest of us. I think Mimi's enjoying it a little too much, though-she fell into a bad crowd and almost got accepted into this bogus club on campus if it weren't for us. She had to do some stupid initiation that involved a keg of beer. If it hadn't been for Palmon e-mailing the rest of us, I don't know what would've happened to her. She thanked us for it the following morning-after her major hangover passed, though. 

Matt, Sora and I are college sophomores and just trying to coax our way through, even though we know it isn't all just fun and games. Amazingly enough, Matt's managed to juggle time between his schoolwork and his band. 

The younger DigiDestined are enjoying life in high school just like we did! 

Yolei's a junior and nervously awaiting her junior prom in the hopes that Davis will remember that it's her junior year and that he'll ask her despite the fact that he isn't a junior yet. 

Davis, Kari, T.K. and Ken are all sophomores and just being like myself, Sora and Matt-trying to coax their way through; Davis is _literally _trying to coax his way through! 

Yolei makes sure that he passes _all _his courses and his tests so he'll be able to take her to every single event the school holds. 

Cody is in eighth grade and anxiously awaiting his high school years-I don't remember being excited about my first day of high school! The only reason I went at all was because Sora was going. That's right-I forgot to mention what's going on with Sora and I! 

Like Matt, Sora and I are college sophomores and our relationship hasn't changed much-except for the fact that Sora and Matt seem to be talking more and seem to be avoiding me before, during and after class! I keep trying to ask Matt what's going on, (he and I are roomies in the dorm room) but he's asleep whenever I come in and gone when I wake up. 

I know I shouldn't be worried, but I am. What if Sora's falling for Matt again like she did during the old days? Agumon keeps reassuring me that things will turn out all right, like they always do, but I wasn't so sure about it. 

Anyway, I bet you're confused on this whole situation and asking yourself, "How'd they remember about the whole thing with Taichi? I thought Gennai erased their memories with help from Azulongmon!" Don't worry; I'm getting to that. It started like this…

__

All was dark in a certain part of the Digital World, until a burst of bright light suddenly appeared in the air. A figure comes flying out of that light and the light fades back to black. The figure stands to his feet, and the shocking part is this-he looked exactly like me! 

The clone, whom we know as Taichi, eyes his Digivice, which is smoldering with smoke, due to the enormous amount of power he'd used to get out of that other world. 

"I'm back in the Digital World! Now, to get revenge on the one who trapped me here-my goodie two shoes self-Tai! But, how to go on about it? This will require some thought…" 

Now, I had no idea that Taichi had escaped from the World of Darkness-in fact, I had no idea he existed until Gennai paid Sora and me a visit! It happened a few days ago when she came by my dorm room one afternoon. 

"Tai? Are you okay? You hardly spoke one word to me at all today." I eyed her with a cold look in my eyes that I only showed to evil Digimon who were attempting to take over the Digital World. She flinched back, scared of the look in my eyes. 

"What would you care? You haven't spoke one word to me since the Valentine's Dance! What's going on with you and Matt? I thought we were supposed to be best friends! You've hurt me countless times in the past, but this has got to be one of the worst times ever." 

I turned away from Sora, refusing to look her in the eye any longer. I was forced to when a heard a quiet sobbing and knew her beautiful crimson eyes were spilling over with tears. I silently cursed myself for making her cry when she was only trying to figure out what was wrong, but I had a right to be mad-didn't I? I turned and pulled her into my arms and started crying myself. The only time I _ever _allowed myself to cry was when something happened to me that only Sora could fix. 

"I'm sorry for hurting you, Sor. But, look at it from my POV, huh? What would it be like if your best friend was suddenly spending time with your other best friend and completely ignoring you? What could you think, huh?" Sora pulled away and wiped the tears away from my eyes and sniffled a bit. 

"Taichi Kamiya, were you jealous?" I blushed a bit and turned away, but not before wiping away the tears off of Sora's cheeks. 

"No! Why would I be jealous of you and Matt-besides the fact that he's a rock star and all famous and I'm still a soccer jock from high school who probably will never go pro in his lifetime." 

Sora turned me around so I was facing her and I visibly gulped as I saw anger flash in her eyes; I knew I was in _big _trouble, since I'd rather be facing the Dark Masters again than have an angry Takenouchi in my room. 

"Now you listen to me, Taichi: You will succeed in your dreams, you will become a pro soccer player and you will go off and have a wonderful life, do you hear me?! Especially if it isn't with me…" The look of anger soon changed to one of sorrow and I was confused on why she'd care about the rest of my life. 

"What are you talking about?" 

"I saw what happened that day you and the guys saved Mimi during her initiation. She kissed you! Doesn't that mean something, Tai?" Sora's eyes started brimming with tears again, and I laughed a bit. 

"Sor…Mimi kissed all of us! She was still a bit drunk from her initiation. If there's someone she kissed longer than me, it was Matt. There's only one girl for me. And I think it's time you know who that girl is." I held my breath as I called up the last of my courage and tried to stay quiet, knowing that Agumon was sleeping under my bed sheets. 

"A-and that girl w-would b-be…?" Sora stammered a bit as she tried to get on the same page as I was and I smiled as I leaned closer to her and closed my eyes. Sora blushed as she closed her eyes and leaned forward toward me…

Then my computer shined a bright light and Gennai stepped out from it, waking up Agumon and effectively killing the romantic moment between us! 

"Oops. Did I come at a bad time?" Sora and I both blushed and stepped back from each other. 

"Can't you give us some Digital pagers or something so that, if you need us, you can simply page us if you need us?!" I demanded angrily. 

"That's why you guys have your Digivices. Now, we've got trouble. Tai, your clone's back and he means to cause trouble for you and your friends. I know you don't remember, so here-touch this. Both of you." 

Sora and I eyed each other, but Gennai had given us no reason to not trust him in the past, and he had gotten Gatomon's tail ring back to her, so we both reached for Azulongmon's core and touched it. It started glowing a bright color, and we started to remember…

__

How Taichi had been created in the first place…(That was from my memories)

Taichi's first appearance in the Real World…

The first battle he and I had in Alaska, as well as Sora crying out that she loved me…

The destruction of our Crests and Digi-Eggs…

The journeys us DigiDestined took to retrieve our Crests and Digi-Eggs and to receive our powers…

Omnimon against Black Omnimon…

The final battle Taichi and I had in the World of Darkness…

Me trapping my clone in that World, and Gennai stripping our memories and powers away with Azulongmon's core…

The light faded, and Sora and I embraced, our memories finally restored to us whole and complete. 

"Tai, I'm so sorry I kept you out of my life, but Matt didn't want you involved! He's been trying to ask Mimi out but she's either busy with work or hanging out with Izzy and Joe. He didn't want you involved in this, since he was still afraid you resented him from that one Christmas."   
"It's okay, Sora. And that thing between Mimi-I was telling the truth." 

"You never gave me a reason to doubt you before, Tai." 

"AHEM!" Sora and I broke apart to see a very irritated Agumon peek his head out from under the covers. "If you're done playing kissy-face, I believe we've got work to do!" 

I nodded. "Right. Sora…contact the others. I have a feeling that this is going to take a lot longer than a day to accomplish." 

All I have to say is this: R&R! 


	2. Chap. I-The Capture of a DigiDestined

Me: I'm baaaaaaaaack

Me: I'm baaaaaaaaack! My mother was lenient on me and revoked my restriction of the computer! 

Sora: That's awesome! 

Izzy: Prodigious! 

Tai: What'd you do? Threaten to burn off her hair? 

Matt: Tell her you'd run away if she didn't do what you asked? 

Davis: Told her you'd use your own electric razor and shave off all your hair? 

(silence; everyone eyes Davis with a strange look) 

Me: No, no and let's see how'd YOU look after I used my razor on YOUR hair! 

Davis: (gulps) Maybe it wasn't that last one! 

Me: No, it wasn't. 

Davis: I'll think of something else. 

Me: I don't own Digimon, and it's great to be back! 

****

Digimon

The Return of the Evil Clone

Chap. I-The Capture of a DigiDestined

"Sora…contact the others. I have a feeling this is gonna take a lot longer than a day to accomplish." I advised. She nodded, then headed for the phone. Suddenly, the entire room went pitch-black on us! 

"Tai, what happened?" I quickly pulled Sora into a hug. 

"Don't worry, Sora-it's probably just a problem with the switches on the side of the building. Here. Take my change and go call the others on a payphone outside. You don't have to pay me back or anything-just one kiss per call will do." Sora giggled as she playfully punched me. 

"Stupid Tai! I'll be back, so don't go anywhere." A moment later, Agumon, Gennai and I were alone in the room. 

"Where would I go? It's dark in here!" 

While Sora and I were having our "Friends blackout" moment, Matt was about to go through the same pain that I went through when Sora rejected me during his concert. Here's how it went: 

"Wow, Mimi! I didn't know you were such a good cook!" Palmon exclaimed excitedly, as Mimi revealed, hidden in a pot, steaming, recently cooked spaghetti and meatballs. 

"Thanks, Palmon. Neither did I. I sure hope we can find the dorm room without any problems." 

"Don't worry, Mimi. We'll be sure to find it, once the smell of your spaghetti hits his windowsill." Palmon advised. 

"I hope so." That's when Matt came in and clinched the deal. 

"Meems, wait up!" Mimi turned around, and her cheeks flushed a light pink. 

"Oh…Matt." With a smile on his face, Matt walked up to Mimi and braced himself.  
_"Okay, Matt. Just remember what Sora told you, and have courage-although that's more down Tai's alley than your own. And whatever she says-don't blow your top." _ "So, uh, Mimi, are you doing anything tonight? Not that I'd care about what you were up to, uh…Just wondering." Matt asked calmly. 

"No, I want to stay open in case Izzy's spending the evening at home with Tentomon." 

Matt felt his heart being ripped open and thought sadly to himself, _"This must be how Tai felt when Sora rejected him during my concert…like a loser. Just be happy for her-that's all you can do now." _ Matt forced a smile on his face as he hugged Mimi tightly. 

"It's okay, Meems." 

"You're not mad at me, Matt?" 

"No! Why would I have to be mad? Now get up there and say 'Hi' to Izzy for me!" 

Mimi smiled a genuine smile at Matt. 

"Thanks, Matt." 

"The least you can do is leave us some spaghetti!" Gabumon insisted as Mimi and Palmon made their way to the apartment doors. 

"Tell you what: Next time I make some spaghetti, you'll be the first one I call." Then Mimi walked inside the doors with her Digimon by her side. 

"I'll be expecting that call, Meems." 

"You know what, Matt?" 

"What?" 

"You _have _grown up. I thought you hadn't changed that much from our experience in the Digital World, but you proved me wrong!" A second later, a bright flash of light hit Matt and he blacked out for a moment, but shook it off. That's when Matt's Dterminal went off and Gabumon pulled it out of his pocket and read it. 

"We're needed at your dorm room, Matt! There's trouble!" 

Sora smiled to herself as she hung up the phone after calling about ½ of the DigiDestined and e-mailing the other ½. 

__

"I don't know why Tai didn't just suggest I e-mail the others from the room. He probably didn't want me to be scared while we were inside his dorm room. That's Tai for you-always being as sweet as he can be. I can't believe I waited this long to let him know how I felt! Actually, it wasn't on me or Tai at all. If it weren't for the fact that Taichi had escaped, I'd have told Tai how I felt about him a few minutes ago." 

I smiled as the power came back on inside my room. Five minutes or so, the DigiDestined were inside and amazed to see Gennai. 

"Hello, all. You're wondering why I'm back, huh? Tai's clone has escaped the World of Darkness and has conjured up some sinister plot to get revenge on Tai. I don't need to tell you about him because when Tai and Sora touched Azulongmon's core and restored their memories, the same thing happened to the rest of you. You've got to come up with a plan of attack against him before it's too late. Now, I've got to go-I have a pizza in the oven." We all sweatdropped as Gennai disappeared inside my computer within seconds. 

"So, Izzy! Got any ideas?" I asked calmly. 

"Calm down, Tai! I just remembered only moments ago that you had a clone that tried to kill us and take over the Digital World. Let me think a bit. Okay: Since his Digivice is apparently low on power, he's going to need to replace it, or restore its power somehow. The only thing that could have the power to restore his Digivice would either be Azulongmon's core, another Digivice or a D3." Izzy explained. 

"So, how are we going to stop him without him trying to take the Digivices or D3's?" Kari asked worriedly. 

"Easy-Ken and I go in on Imperialdramon and we get the drop on him!" Davis declared. I shook my head on this one.   
"Davis, use your head for something other than a means to be with Yolei! My clone's got the one thing we don't have anymore-his Powers of Darkness! He has the energy to defeat us if we're not careful." 

"Not necessarily, Tai. If the power of the Digivice wasn't enough to open the portal to the Digital World from the World of Darkness, then Taichi would've been left with no other alternative than to surrender his powers in order to escape. So, we're all on level ground!" I hoped Izzy was right. 

"Is that all? Because I've got some spaghetti and meatballs that are getting cold in this pot, and-"

Mimi didn't get to finish whatever she wanted to say, 'cause Davis, T.K., Ken, Cody, Joe our Digimon and I all crowded around with bowls and cleaned her pot of any spaghetti! Matt and Izzy sighed as Mimi gaped in shock at the state of her pot. 

Mimi was seconds from killing us when I realized someone was missing. 

"Where's Sora?" That's when my computer came on, and Taichi was on the center screen! 

__

"Good afternoon, Tai_! I trust you've had a good life since our last encounter. Well, you won't have a good one after this-look who didn't have her partner with her while she was out by the phones-your girl! Pity about the blackout. People should really pay their electric bills." _

"You! You were the one who shorted out the power." 

__

"Alas, I used up the last of my powers of Darkness to get there, but I managed to make it out of the Digital World. And with your girlfriend's Digivice, I was able to make it back. Don't bother tracking it-it's been drained of its power. If you want Takenouchi back safe and unharmed, I want two more Digivices and three D3's within 24 hours or I send a corpse through the computer right to your room, Kamiya." I was barely able to hold my anger. That's when I heard a strained voice that caused tears to escape my eyes. 

__

"TAI! Don't listen to him. Stay out of the DigiWorld. Make sure Biyomon's okay. I wouldn't stand it if anything happened to you or the others!" 

"So touching. She's willing to sacrifice her life to keep me from my revenge. Well, you can't stay in that room forever! You all have lives of your own; you'll have to leave sooner or later. Whom shall I kidnap next-Motomiya? Inoue? Izumi? Ishida? My 'surrogate' sister?" 

"You try laying one finger on Kari or anyone else and I will personally rip you apart with my bare hands!" Matt, Kari, Davis, Ken, Izzy, Joe and Cody had to keep me from sending myself to the Digital World at that moment! 

__

"I'll remember you said that. Ta!" The screen went blank and I burst into tears. 

"It's all my fault…Sora, it's all my fault!" 

"Whoa-déjà vu moment." Mimi noted. Davis, Yolei, Ken and Cody had blank stares on their faces. 

"Huh?" 

"Sora was kidnapped by Datamon a long time ago. If Tai had just went after her the first time, she'd have been safe." Matt replied. 

"But since he didn't, we were able to get her Crest." Izzy added. 

I wiped my face clean and eyed the computer. 

"What time is it?" 

Joe checked his watch. "About 5:55. Almost dinnertime at home." 

"We have until 5:55 the morning after tomorrow to save Sora. Let's get some sleep and use the weekend to get her!" 

Davis: I got it! You wrecked your Mom's car! 

Me: Why would I wreck it when I washed it for her yesterday? R&R people! 

Davis: Good point. 


	3. Chap. II-Imperialdramon No More!

Me: I don't own Digimon, and that's that

Me: I don't own Digimon, and that's that. (turns and sees Davis) Hey! How'd you get in here? This entire house is locked up! 

Davis: You left the windowsill in your room open. 

Me: (sighs) Well, now that you're here, I guess you can help me with this story. 

Davis: Great! Now, have me dump Yolei, Kari dump T.S. and put me with Kari! 

Me: (laughs) What would Yolei think about that? 

Davis: Uh…she'd try to kill me? 

Me: BINGO! 

Davis: All right…leave them the way they are. 

Me: Glad you see things my way. 

****

Digimon

The Return of the Evil Clone

Chap. II-Imperialdramon No More! 

Since the following day was a Saturday, we told our parents that we'd be spending time in the Digital World to get away from the pressure of our oncoming finals-I told Ms. Takenouchi the truth about what had happened to Sora and she didn't cry or anything. She just pulled me into a hug and whispered into my ear, "Just bring her back to me safe and sound. I believe in you, my son." Those words alone made me feel like a member of her family. I broke the hug and maintained my composure and nodded. 

"I'll bring her back. Whatever it takes. I promise." 

Biyomon was just as depressed as I'd been when I found out that Sora had been captured. She'd insisted that Biyomon stay and look after her mother while she was at the flower shop. Agumon and I did our best to lift up her spirits by reassuring her that Sora would be unharmed-hopefully.

We all met at Izzy's dorm room in preparation to get to the Digital World. 

"Okay: Tai, Matt, Davis, Ken, Yolei, Kari-you guys are going to this sector of the Digital World to see if Sora's anywhere around there." 

"Hey! That's my area-but it looks different." Agumon noted in amazement. 

"I'd lay odds that Tai's clone might be around there due to the devastation that occurred around it. Mimi, Cody, Joe, T.K. and myself are patrolling this sector." 

"The same thing happened to _my _area! How was he able to take control of it so quickly?" Biyomon exclaimed in shock. 

"Isn't it obvious? You guys have been gone for so long that the defenses were easily taken over-even after your brief return during Christmas a few years ago." Matt explained. 

I was barely able to contain my anger. I hadn't wanted to be reminded of that particular Christmas by my best friend/rival. "Whatever. Let's go get Sora! Digiport open!" 

The area Agumon used to guard hadn't just been devastated-it had been hit with tons of atomic bombs! Or, at least, that's how it looked when we got there. 

"Remind me to call a maid service to complain about the lousy shape this place is in." Davis noted calmly as we kept an eye out for my clone. 

"Not now, Davis. What Taichi doesn't know is that given about two or three hours, our Digivices, if stripped of power, recharge themselves based on the DigiDestined's Crest, or most powerful trait." Everyone eyed me with a look of surprise. I sweatdropped. 

"What?! Just 'cause I actually listen to Izzy during some of his explanations, you guys think I've gone nuts?" 

Unbeknownst to us, we were being monitored by my clone as he listened in on our conversation. 

"Your boy's very perceptive…too perceptive! That means your Digivice should be back at full strength by now." Sora smiled smugly at Taichi, still amazed that a face she'd grown to love could cause her such pain and misery. 

"That's right. Once Tai and the others find you, it'll all be over." Taichi grabbed Sora by her hair and rose her face upward until it was level with his own. 

"WRONG! _I'm _going out to them. Correction-_we're _going out to see them. When we get there, that's when I show you what a taste of Love has done to my precious Digivice…" 

"Tai? Can we talk?" 

I turned to see Matt with a blank look on his face. I was amazed-I thought _I _had had problems before, but it seemed that Matt's were worse than mine. 

"What's wrong?" 

"Well, since you've been through this before, I just thought I could get some answers-what did you do when Sora was going out with me during that whole World Tour thing?" 

I sighed sadly and eyed Matt with that same stare, piercing his ice-cold blue eyes with my own. 

"The only thing I _could _do-I let her be happy with you. Let me guess: Mimi rejected you for someone else, huh? Here's your answer. Let her be happy with Izzy; it is Izzy, right?" Matt nodded. 

"If you two are meant to be, then it'll happen. If it isn't, then just be happy for her." I advised. Matt smiled and clapped me on the back. 

"Thanks, Tai." 

"Very sweet-the leader giving his rival tips on romanticism…how sickening! _I've _got just the person you need to speak to." We all looked up to see Taichi…floating in mid-air! Sora was suspended right above him! 

"SORA! Hang on; I'll come get you." I demanded calmly. I prepared to have Agumon Digivolve to Greymon and shoot me up to her. 

"Tai, don't! He'll kill you if you tried it." Sora pleaded. I saw the look in her crimson eyes and knew she was right. I also took notice that her hair was a bit ruffled. I silently vowed to share my own vengeance. 

"She's right, goody-good. DON'T try anything. All I want are some Digivices and D3's." 

Davis jumped into action with Ken, Yolei and Kari by his side. 

"You want our D3's? You'll have to take them from our cold, dead bodies!" 

"Veemon Digivolve to…EXVEEMON!!!" 

"Wormmon Digivolve to…STINGMON!!!" 

"ExVeemon…" 

"…Stingmon…" 

"DNA Digivolve to…PAILDRAMON!!!" 

"Paildramon Mega Digivolve to…IMPERIALDRAMON!!!" 

Imperialdramon Mode Change to…FIGHTER MODE!!!" 

Kari and Yolei pulled out their own D3's as they prepared their own Digimon for battle. 

"Hawkmon Digivolve to…AQUILLAMON!!!" 

"Aquillamon…" 

"…Gatomon…" 

"DNA Digivolve to…SYLPHYMON!!!" 

"Sylphymon Mega Digivolve to…" 

"Hey! What gives? Why didn't Sylphymon Mega Digivolve?" Davis asked in amazement. 

None of us had the answer to that question. Good thing Sora had listened in. 

"Guys! The reason why Sylphymon can't Mega Digivolve is because Kari and Yolei don't have their powers anymore. Didn't you find it odd, Ken, that ExVeemon and Stingmon had to DNA Digivolve again? It's because we don't have our powers!" 

"And now, you can say adieu to two more DigiDestined!" Before any of us could react, Taichi pulled out his Digivice and used its powers to grab Davis and Ken's D3s out of their hands! Then, he started draining them of their energies, which in turn, stripped Imperialdramon of his energy! Minutes later, they deDigivolved back to Veemon and Wormmon. Taichi calmly picked them up without much trouble.

"Hey! Give us back our D3's and our Digimon you Tai wannabe!" Davis yelled out angrily. Taichi started laughing at that one. 

"Davis, take a look in the mirror." WHAP! Taichi had suddenly reappeared behind Davis and hit him in the back of the head, knocking him out. Then, he did a 180 and popped Ken in the mouth. Finally, he started floating away-with Sora, Davis and Ken! 

"Sora! Hang on. I'll save you!" I yelled out. 

"Don't worry about me, Tai! I'll be fine!" 

"DAVIS! BRING HIM BACK!" Yolei was angry with herself. I could tell by the sound of her voice that she was disappointed that she hadn't been able to save Davis. Matt went over and comforted her. 

"Don't worry. We'll get Davis back, along with Sora and Ken, right Tai?" 

I could do nothing but nod. "Right. E-mail Izzy and the others. They'll want to know about this. There's something Taichi doesn't know, though." Kari eyed me in amazement. 

"What's that, Tai?" 

"Davis is wearing one of Izzy's new Digi-tracers. We'll be able to follow Davis' trail straight to my clone." 

Me: Short, I know but Chap. III-The hunt for DigiDestined will be longer. 

Davis: It better be! 

Me: Don't you have to get to the show or something-wait, you and the others are unemployed now, aren't you? Darn it! R&R! 


	4. Chap. III-The Hunt for missing DigiDesti...

Me: I don't own Digimon-(turns and sees Davis) What are you still doing here

Me: I don't own Digimon-(turns and sees Davis) What are you still doing here?! 

Davis: Since I'm unemployed, could I hang with you for a while? A week? A month? 

Me: (sighs) Having a hard time finding work? 

Davis: It's hard getting a job when everyone knows you as "Goggle Boy" and sees you as a threat to the team of Takari followers. 

Me: Hmm…I see. (rapping at the door) I'll get it; you stay here! 

(The door opens to reveal Tai, Sora, Yolei and Kari) 

Tai: There he is! 

Me: How'd you find me?! 

Tai: You _did _keep me locked up here, remember? 

Me: (groans) I've got to get an alarm system-or maybe a dog.

****

Digimon

The Return of the Evil Clone

Chap. III-The Hunt for missing DigiDestined

"Come on, Agumon. We've gotta go." I shook my partner up at around 2:00 in the morning, and boy, was he moody! He almost burned my hand to a crisp if I hadn't pulled back. 

"It's still nighttime! Why are we getting up this early anyway? The fish are all asleep." 

"Simple: We're going to save Sora and the others from my clone, but it may be hard to do since by now Taichi probably found the tracer on Davis, so we'll have to track him from the last known trajectory." Agumon looked at me like I was crazy. 

"You get more and more like Izzy every day, Tai. That scares me." 

"I know how you feel." A small shadow overtook Agumon's by a bit and that shadow had wings in place of arms. 

"If you're going to save Sora, then I'm coming with you." I was against it from the start.

"Not a chance. With Sora captured, you wouldn't be much help as a Rookie Digimon." 

Biyomon was like Sora in every aspect of the word-I could feel it, Agumon could feel it. 

And Sora herself knew that as well. 

"Didn't you promise that until we got Sora back safe and sound, you weren't going to let me out of your sight, Tai? That includes at night. So wherever you go, I go." 

I sighed loudly. I take back what I mentioned earlier-Biyomon is the Digimon version of Sora-I could tell! 

"All right, but stay out of sight. If anything happens, get behind me." 

We had met up with Izzy and the others before night fell, but I wasn't hungry, not after losing Sora, then Davis and Ken at the same time. Biyomon had lost her appetite after seeing Sora, then not being able to rescue her at the time. After being persuaded by Kari and Agumon, the two of us finally had something to eat. Then we'd gotten some sleep, but I hadn't slept much, seeing as how my brain was racking up a plan of rescue. 

But anyway, back to the here and now. The three of us moved as quickly as possible through Agumon's territory, attempting to avoid the desert portion, electing instead to travel through the forest. It wasn't that easy. Branches kept getting in our way and smacking in our faces-mine and Agumon's; Biyomon wisely flew above us, laughing at our disposition. 

"If you guys were a little bit taller, you'd be able to avoid these branches, too!" That gave me an idea, so I pulled out my Digivice and it started to glow. 

"Agumon Digivolve to…GREYMON!!!" 

Biyomon sweatdropped in shock as Greymon towered over her by quite a lot! I laughed as I scrambled up Greymon's leg and back, finally making it to the back of his head. 

"Who's got to be taller to avoid these branches _now_, huh?" Greymon chuckled a bit as Biyomon reluctantly landed on my shoulder. 

"Just you wait-once I Digivolve to Birdramon, we'll see who's laughing then!" 

Eventually, we arrived at the last known spot we'd seen our missing friends, so I pulled out my Digivice, hoping to see a blinking dot or hear it going off and shaking in my hand. 

There was nothing. It was dark and motionless. 

"Great. Just great! Nothing at all. Now what are we going to do?" I asked impatiently, the fatigue of the last few hours finally getting to me. 

"We'll just go to where they flew off and continue from there." Biyomon advised. I had to admit-that was good advise. I pulled out my Digivice and it glowed and shook in my hand once again. 

"Greymon Digivolve to…METALGREYMON!!!" 

My Android Digimon now towered over the forests indefinitely! Biyomon held on to MetalGreymon's hair in an attempt to keep from falling off. A moment later, we took to the skies and flew at an unbelievably fast rate for a Digimon of MetalGreymon's size! 

My Digivice started going off and I knew it wasn't MetalGreymon Digivolving to WarGreymon-it was a reaction to another DigiDestined. I looked downward and saw a base that shimmered and faded away as we landed safely to the ground. Moments later, MetalGreymon deDigivolved back to Agumon. 

"So, I think we can safely assume we've found the base. Now what do we do?" Biyomon asked calmly. 

"We figure out a way to break in. I think there's only one way we can get in. Agumon?" 

I smiled as within seconds, my Digivice shrieked and started glowing a fiery orange. 

"Agumon Warp-Digivolve to…WARGREYMON!!!" 

"Terra Force!!" WarGreymon's attack demolished a part of the invisible forcefield, but a part was all that we needed to get inside. What I didn't know was that my clone was about to try and destroy the rock-solid relationship between me and Sora…

As for the others, well, let's just say that Matt was more than a little ticked off that I'd chosen to "recklessly" go off and do things my way; personally, I think he wanted in on the action but I had to do this on my own. 

"How could he just go off in the middle of the night and not have anyone go after him?!" 

"Someone did go after him, but she chose to go with him." Yolei responded. 

"Are you saying that Biyomon willingly went with Tai? Why would she do that?" Matt was visibly struggling with his anger, and not succeeding-it's not like he ever held his temper back in the old days, right? 

"Think about it, Matt-Sora is kidnapped in broad daylight a day or so ago. The following day, Davis, Ken and their Digimon are caught in the Digital World under Tai's watch. Tai and Biyomon both feel responsible for the incidents. Why? Both times, they couldn't help Sora. This time, Tai knew he couldn't find Davis and the others due to the interference of his clone's base, so he and Agumon crept out of camp. Biyomon felt like she had to help with saving Sora, so she convinced Tai to take her along, insisting that she'd stay out of harm's way until Sora was freed." 

That's when they heard a voice they _never _thought they'd hear out of the darkness: 

"Thanks. That's nice to know." Seconds later, Izzy and Yolei were knocked out-along with Matt and the others-and their Digivices stolen! Taichi laughed evilly as he used his Digivice to drain the two Digivices of their energies, then dropped them and flew off back to his base. 

Davis: Man! Tai, your clone is bad news! 

Sora: What's he going to do that damages our relationship? 

Me: That would be telling, and I'm not gonna do that. (Sora grabs me by my neck and looks me dead in the eye) 

Sora: Tell…me…NOW! 

Me: Guys…help! 

Davis: I gotta get some food! 

Tai: And I'm gonna watch TV! 

Sora: (giggles) See? They _know _when to back off. 


	5. Chap. IV-Two Broken Hearts

Me: I don't own Digimon, blah, blah, blah…AHH

Me: I don't own Digimon, blah, blah, blah. I also don't own "Loser" by 3 Doors Down. Don't worry-a tiny part of it shows up in this…AHH! 

(Sora sneaks up behind me and grabs me by the throat) 

Sora: What…happens…to Tai and me? TELL ME! 

Me: (gasping) Can't…tell…need…air…

****

Digimon

The Return of the Evil Clone

Chap. IV-Two Broken Hearts 

After breaching the forcefield surrounding a part of my clone's base, WarGreymon decided that he should save energy and deDigivolved back to Agumon. I agreed, saying that it was a good idea and the three of us went inside, not knowing what we'd find. 

"Maybe we should all split up and search for Sora and the others down these hallways and we'll meet back here in ten minutes if we find anything." Biyomon suggested. 

"I'm not too sure I like that idea. What if you guys run into my clone?" 

"No offense Tai, but we're small and Rookie Digimon; he's a carbon-based copy of my best friend's boyfriend. Who should be worried?" 

"Good point." That said, Biyomon went down one hallway and Agumon went down the hallway opposite her; I was left with the hallway smack dab in the middle. I sighed wearily as I started walking forward. 

I know I wasn't here for this, but this is what happened between Sora and my clone. She was extremely cold due to the fact that the air conditioner was turned up full blast. A moment later, Taichi came in looking as smug as Matt did after a concert…until he saw Sora. Then his face became as sad as mine did on that fateful Christmas incident. 

"Just wanted to let you know that I've drained another Digivice and one last D3 of your friends. All I need is just one last original Digivice and I can enact my plan against your 'boyfriend.'" 

"What do you have against Tai? What did he ever do to you?" Sora cried angrily. She gasped in fear as Taichi suddenly slammed his fist on the wall _very _close to her face! 

"It's not _Tai _I have a problem with-not entirely. It's _you_! I may be a fabrication of your best friend, but I was once inside of Tai, a part of him. I still am, to a point. You could call me his dark side." 

"That's not too far from the truth." Sora joked. She whimpered quietly as a dark Digivice was pointed at her head. 

"I WASN'T FINISHED! Now, I'm sure you remember as well as Tai and I do, that fateful Christmas season when the Digimon were returned to us, hmm?" 

"Yeah…you were a part of Tai then, weren't you?" Sora asked quietly, trying not to anger Taichi. 

"Let's see-Daemon hadn't come to the Real World yet, so I'm thinking NO! Anyway, remember the time when you held that infuriating box of cookies for Matt and not for Tai?" Sora had a feeling she knew where this was going, but she nodded, attempting to play for time. 

"When you rejected Tai, he felt anger. Anger, pain and loss. Loss that he'd waited too long to ask you out. Pain, because of what a bitch like you inflicted upon him. And anger, because it was his best friend that you were attracted to. That's when I came into the picture. Of course, I was nothing but a tiny voice in Tai's head at the time. But I encouraged him to be angry with you, to hurt you for hurting him. But he refused. He hadn't wanted to do anything that would cause his precious Sora any kind of pain like the pain you bestowed on him. So, he let you go to Matt when in reality, he wanted to fight for you. As the Christmas season dwindled on, Tai kept himself focused on saving both worlds, almost as if he had truly become heartless. That's when I took over entirely. Every look Tai had from then on was pain, anger, remorse, hatred-the opposite of what your Crest represents. To his surprise, you and Matt broke up around New Year's because of his band schedule. Guess who was the first person you ran to?" 

Sora, by this time, was shocked, saddened, and almost depressed. The way Taichi was talking, it was like he actually _was _a darker version of me! 

"T-Tai?" 

"That's RIGHT! You run to the exact same guy whose heart you crushed on Christmas, expecting him to take you into his arms and insist that everything would be okay. Of course, by then I had taken over so he did all but hurt you physically-he still had _some _control, but that didn't stop me from causing _emotional _pain! I forced Tai to break you down, piece by piece, until you were nothing but a whimpering, crying baby. That's when he regained control of himself. When he realized what he'd done to you. He picked you up, looked deep into your crimson eyes and whispered into your ear…'I'm sorry.' Then, he locked me deep into a part of his mind and created a barrier. Every time I'd try to get back out, he created another barrier into his mind. Good ol' Tai wanted to kill himself for what I'd done to you, thinking that he'd done it, but you wouldn't let him. Remember your 15th birthday? The day Matt gave you those diamond earrings? That's when he decided to kill himself. I broke through the one recess of his mind that hadn't yet been blocked. I convinced him to do it. I knew once he died, all the barriers would fade away, and I would be all that was left. I could've taken over his body entirely…until you came in and convinced him not to do it! If you hadn't broken Tai's spirit, if you hadn't broken _my _spirit, I'd still be a part of Tai right now! _I'd _still be respected by the other DigiDestined! _I'd _still have a purpose…" Taichi finally broke down and cried on the floor. As Sora looked on in amazement, she saw a little bit of me in my clone. Honestly, I couldn't blame her-the guy _was_, as he put it, a part of me! Unlike Davis, Ken and their Digimon, Sora had been free and able to leave whenever she wished-if Taichi hadn't locked every door in that room before he left, which prevented her from leaving. 

Smiling, she bent down and pulled Taichi to his feet. 

"If I could go back in time and change what happened, I would; believe me. But, I can't. I think Kari can, but it's been years since we've seen actual use of her powers of Light-not the ones she got when she got her Crest and Digi-Egg back, the other ones." Taichi chuckled as he tapped the side of his temple. 

"I'm a part of Tai, remember? I have memories? I do remember that time quite vividly." 

"Sorry. Anyway, if you really are a part of Tai, then you've got some good in you. So, is there any chance you could let me go?" My clone considered Sora's question for a while.

Agumon walked as quickly as he dared through the dark hallway of Taichi's base, careful to look around for any sign of him. A moment later, he heard some voices on a side of the door. 

"Hey, let us outta here! I must warn you-we know the ancient art of Digital Fu!" 

"'Digital Fu?' Davis, seclusion and separation from Yolei hasn't helped your brain out much, has it?" 

"Hang on, guys! I'll get you out. Pepper Breath!!" Agumon's attack only grazed the door.

"Let me try. Vee Headbutt!!" WHAM! Veemon's attack sent the door flying, and landing, on Davis' body. 

"OW! Veemon, next time, can you try aiming for the wall instead of my-"

"Davis, shut up and let's get out of this room, find Sora, and get out of here ASAP!" Ken insisted impatiently. Davis smirked at his DNA Digivolving partner and mimicked, "Ken, seclusion and separation from Wormmon hasn't helped your attitude adjustments, has it?" 

"If you truly think that I'm a part of Tai, then kiss me." Sora flinched and recoiled away from Taichi in shock and disgust. 

"Okay, you just told me this heartbreaking story; I can understand that. But, you've kidnapped me in broad daylight, stripped my Digivice of power, taken two of my friends and their Digimon, stripped their D3's of power, knocked out my friends and stripped a Digivice and D3 of power and you want me to _kiss _you? Not going to happen. Besides, I'm with Tai." Sora insisted as calmly as possible. 

"But I'm a part of Tai! So basically, you're already with me. You wouldn't be betraying Tai, if that's what you think. Trust me. Just think of me as Tai, standing here right now, recently saving you from some evil Digimon. You really don't have a choice in the matter, since you're still trapped here." 

Sora grimaced as she struggled to fight her emotions, and was failing miserably. 

__

"He's right. There isn't anyway out of this, and he does _look like Tai-actually, he could _be _Tai, if it wasn't for the attitude problem! And, he's smiling just like Tai would…" _

Sora couldn't fight her conflicting emotions anymore, so she tackled Taichi and started kissing him with that same undying passion she had for me. As they got up, still kissing, my clone's hand unconsciously hit a button on a panel and the door opened just in time for me to walk in and witness the whole thing. I felt my heart being ripped apart a second time. My Digivice dropped to the floor and clattered loudly, which startled Sora. Saddened, and in pain, she moved away from Taichi and started walking toward me; I backed off from her. 

"Tai, I…" 

Being as sarcastic as I could be, I responded, "Wait, let me guess, Sor-my clone told you some sob story and your heart reached out to him in an attempt to heal him. He wanted you to do something with him and you refused. Then, he came up with the wild suggestion that you imagine he was me. Finally, you jump into his arms and kiss him as madly as you would me long enough for me to come in and see, am I right?" 

Taichi was laughing quietly as possible; Sora winced in pain and shook a bit. "Actually, Tai, you hit it dead on the nail." 

Things were even worse as Davis and the others came in, and just stood there in shock as they assessed the situation. 

"Why, Sora? I know not having memories of what happened back then was probably a bit of a stretch, but was it something I did? Did I do something to make you want to be with him?" Sora started crying quietly, hurting even more as she realized that I was putting all that had happened on myself. 

"Tai, no! It wasn't you. It wasn't you at all…" 

"Sora, what did you do?" Biyomon asked with a hint of anger in her voice. She gasped as she finally recognized her Digimon amongst Agumon and the others. 

"Biyo…I, uh…I…" 

"She betrayed me, Biyomon! Stabbed in the back by my own girlfriend! I could've taken the pain and turmoil if you'd stayed with Matt, but my clone? A fabrication of me?" 

"Tai, he's a part of you!" Sora cried angrily as she struggled with her tears. I made no attempt to hide mine this time. 

"A part of me?! Tell me, Sora-which part of me has kidnapped you? Which part of me has kept you away from your friends and family? I thought you loved me, but I guess I was wrong." I turned and started off, not acknowledging the fact that my Digivice was still on the floor. I was still crying softly as I whispered three words that would harden my heart, possibly for good this time: 

"Sora…we're through." 

__

You're getting closer, to pushing me off of life's little edge

'Cause I'm a loser, and sooner or later you know I'll be dead

You're getting closer; you're holding the rope and taking the fall

'Cause I'm a loser, well I'm a loser, yeah…

Then, with a heavy heart, I left Sora to sob loudly on Taichi's floor. Davis, Ken, Veemon, Wormmon and Agumon turned and followed down the same path as me. With a broken heart of her own, Sora gazed up at Biyomon with reddening eyes. Hurt, and feeling as betrayed, as I had been, the Bird Digimon slowly turned to leave. 

"Biyomon…please…" 

Feeling her own tears welling up in her eyes, Biyomon flew off down the hallway as fast as she could. 

Sora dropped back to her knees and started crying again, blaming herself for what had happened. 

You're getting closer, to pushing me off of life's little edge

'Cause I'm a loser, and sooner or later you know I'll be dead

You're getting closer; you're holding the rope and taking the fall

'Cause I'm a loser, well, I'm a loser! 

"It's all my fault! If you'd only resisted longer, Tai could've come in and saved you from Taichi without any problem! You'd be in Tai's arms instead of still being inside this base, cold, alone and with a broken heart…" 

That's when Sora suddenly heard laughter. Evil laughter. She looked up to see my Digivice in Taichi's hands, stripped of its power. Still laughing, Taichi allowed the Digivice to drop into Sora's outstretched hands. That's when his hands started glowing with the color of pure Darkness. 

"Now…The real fun begins…" 

Sora shuddered with fear as she realized the truth. She'd been a pawn all along-a plan set up by Taichi in order to make it look like she was betraying me. And now that Taichi had stripped six Digivices of their power, his own powers of Darkness were back. 

Praying that I was still in the base, Sora screamed out my name as loud as her strained voice would allow. 

"TAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!" 

__

You're getting closer, to pushing me off of life's little edge

'Cause I'm a loser, and sooner or later, you know I'll be dead

You're getting closer; you're holding the rope and taking the fall (taking the fall…)

'Cause I'm a loser, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah…

You're getting closer, to pushing me off of life's little edge

'Cause I'm a loser, and sooner or later you know I'll be dead

You're getting closer; you're holding the rope and taking the fall (I'm taking…) 

'Cause I'm a loser, (taking!) yeah! 

Don't worry-things will be back to normal before you can shout out, "DIGIVOLVE!" (laughs) Don't hold your breath. R&R! 


	6. Chap. V-Target Tai!

Me: I don't own Digimon…uh…(Tai and Sora glare at me) What's wrong now

Me: I don't own Digimon…uh…(Tai and Sora glare at me) What's wrong now? 

Tai: You trashed my relationship with Sora. FIX IT NOW! 

Me: WHA?! What can I do? 

Sora: You can fix it back to the way it was! This IS fiction, isn't it? 

Me: Uh….

****

Digimon

The Return of the Evil Clone

Chap. V-Target Tai! 

"TAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" I immediately turned and ran like hell to get to Sora. I had been right, but my mind kept speaking for my mouth and heart! Sora _had _been tricked, and I tossed our relationship-restored or not-out the window-if there were windows in here. Davis and the others were behind me as I reached for my Digivice-and facefaulted as I realized it was still in the room with Taichi! 

"Don't worry, Tai; we'll get her out for you. DIGIVOLVE, GUYS!" Davis demanded as he and Ken grabbed their Digivices-they probably were able to get them when we were back there earlier, but I was too hurt to acknowledge it. 

"Veemon Digivolve to…EXVEEMON!!!" 

"Wormmon Digivolve to…STINGMON!!!" 

"ExVeemon…" 

"…Stingmon…"

"DNA Digivolve to…PAILDRAMON!!!" 

"Desparado Blaster!!" 

WHAM! Paildramon's main attack torched the door, and I raced in to see Sora, in tears, being hovered over by my clone, whose hands were glowing a darkish black color. I grimaced a bit, as I realized that Taichi must've gotten to the others somehow, then used my Digivice to complete the deal and fully restore his powers! 

"GET AWAY FROM HER-"

I didn't have a chance to finish my sentence, 'cause Taichi didn't even turn, but he rose his arm up and a beam of Dark energy went flying toward me! Sora gasped in fear as she rose to her knees, not even seeing that my Digivice had been fully restored of power and was glowing brightly. 

"Agumon Warp-Digivolve to…WARGREYMON!!!" 

WarGreymon jumped in front of me and _barely _blocked it! The energy had been taken from 3 D3's and 3 Digivices, so my Digimon was affected by it. 

"Impossible! This energy alone is more powerful than WarGreymon? How?" Ken asked in shock. 

"The energy was taken from D3's and Digivices, Ken. That's why it's affecting WarGreymon." I explained calmly. That's when I received my third biggest shock of the day: The energy Taichi was sending toward WarGreymon should've been dissipating, but it was increasing in strength! WarGreymon was beginning to back toward me and I knew that he couldn't take much more of this. 

"Paildramon Mega Digivolve to…IMPERIALDRAMON!!!" 

"Imperialdramon Mode Change to…FIGHTER MODE!!!" 

Imperialdramon landed next to WarGreymon and helped him hold the energy back and it started to work-for a while. I knew I had to get to Sora, but I couldn't as long as Taichi kept sending Dark energy toward us. That's when my brain came up with a plan. 

"Davis, Ken, I've got an idea. Any chance you guys can lift me up?" 

They looked at me like I was crazy, but nodded slowly. 

"Good. On the count of three, I want you guys to lift me right over that energy beam." 

Biyomon landed on my shoulder-I think she's getting used to doing that!-and eyed me with a worried look. 

"If they're off, even by a few seconds, Sora's going to be a widow before she's even married!" I smiled, touched by Biyomon's concern, and patted her on the head. 

"Don't worry. They won't be off." 

"Hurry, Tai! We can't hold out much longer!" WarGreymon warned. You'd think that by now, Taichi would be exhausted, but he looked like he was at his prime! The Digimon were getting tired, and sooner or later, their strength would give out. Davis and Ken were prepared to send me flying upward. Before I did what I did, Biyomon whispered two words into my ear-"Be careful." I smirked and nodded. 

"Hey, aren't I always?" 

"Tai, we're ready!" Davis said. 

I nodded and steeled myself. "1…2…3!" I launched myself up and landed a foot into Davis and Ken's palms, then they hoisted me up. I flew and miraculously avoided the beam of energy! I hit Taichi in the back of the head and distracted him long enough for the beam to finally disappear. I landed safely to the ground and helped Sora to her feet. Saddened, she collapsed into my arms and started sobbing onto my shoulder. I comforted her as best I could. 

"Tai…I'm so, so, sorry. I never meant to hurt you…" 

"Sora, it was all my fault. If I'd only listened to you in the first place, we wouldn't be here right now. Can we start over?" Sora smiled widely and nodded vigorously. 

"Always." We were seconds from kissing when suddenly…

WHAM! I cried out as a BIG blast of Dark energy sent me away from Sora and sent me flying through the wall of the base! I landed hard on the ground and almost blacked out. 

"TAI! Are you okay?" Sora asked worriedly as the others crowded around her; Biyomon flew into her arms and hugged her. 

"Just…peachy…" A moment later, Sora, Davis, WarGreymon and the others went flying and collided into me, which sent us sprawling back to the ground. 

"Not for long…" 

Matt and the other DigiDestined had revived from Taichi's assault and he was just as mad as I'd been when I thought Sora had been cheating on me. 

"When I find Tai's clone, I'm gonna rip his head off and use it for a soccer ball!" Matt fumed angrily. They were close to the remains of the base and found about five Digivice signatures. 

"Okay, the orange one is Tai's and the red one is Sora's. The blue one is Davis' and Ken's is the gray one. But who's the black one?" Izzy asked in amazement. 

A second later, a beam of Dark energy came flying straight at them and swept them off their feet! They all cried out as they landed hard on the ground. 

"I think we know whose black dot that is." Cody noted.

"What the…?" Matt gasped out. 

"Tai's clone must have his powers back!" Mimi replied. 

"He must've taken Tai's Digivice and drained it of its power! I think we're in serious trouble!" Joe yelled out. A second later, WarGreymon, Garudamon and Imperialdramon flew in with Sora, Davis, Ken and me on top. 

"Guys, run! His powers outmatch even WarGreymon's and Imperialdramon's!" I warned heatedly. They got the message, got to their feet and ran in the opposite direction they were originally going. Taichi wasn't that far behind us. Actually, since his powers were back, so was his ability to fly with the use of his Digivice. 

"Tai Kamiya! It is time for _me _to start living and for _you_ to go to the World of Darkness!" WarGreymon and I cried out as a bolt of energy hit us in the back and we started spiraling helplessly to the ground. Sora turned to me and tried in vain to grab my hand. 

"TAAAAAAAIIIIIIIII!!!" At that moment, Sora's Digivice glowed and shrieked loudly. 

"Garudamon Digivolve to…PHOENIXMON!!!" 

As WarGreymon's energy gave out and he deDigivolved to Agumon, Phoenixmon flew downward and caught us just in time. I looked up to see the crimson eyes of an angel. 

"Thanks, Sora." I whispered with a smile. She smiled back and nodded happily. 

"Anytime, Tai." 

WHAM! The four of us cried out as Taichi rammed us with another beam of energy and that _almost _drained Phoenixmon of her energy. 

"You guys think some silly Bird Digimon's going to protect you from _my _powers?" 

I grimaced and Sora shivered a bit as Phoenixmon suddenly glowed brightly. I knew Taichi was in trouble. 

"'Silly?' I'll show you silly! Crimson Flame!!" A fiery bird shot over our heads, then suddenly changed into the Crest of Love. As it headed for Taichi, he connected his hands together and shot out another beam of Dark energy. The two beams collided and battled it out above us! 

"Davis! We could use some help here!" I yelled out impatiently. Imperialdramon came up by Phoenixmon a moment later. 

"Positron Laser!!" The beam combined with Phoenixmon's attack, but Taichi didn't falter. He poured on more power and eventually, our beams began to falter. 

"Tai, the Digimon can't take much more of these attacks! We've got to retreat and get back to the Real World now!" Sora insisted. I was hesitant. I knew if I left Taichi, he'd try to take over the Digital World, or attempt a takeover of the Real World-or both! 

That's when it came to me-an idea that just _had _to work! Unfortunately, just as I was about to suggest it to Sora, Phoenixmon and Imperialdramon's beams finally dissipated.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" We all cried out in pain-Sora, Davis, Ken, Agumon and myself-as we hurtled to the ground; Phoenixmon deDigivolved to Biyomon while Imperialdramon deDigivolved back to Veemon and Wormmon. I got to my feet and helped Sora and the others up, then pulled out my Digivice as it started glowing. 

"Agumon Warp-Digivolve to…WARGREYMON!!!" 

I jumped onto WarGreymon's back and he was about to fly off when Sora stopped us. 

"Tai, what are you doing?" 

"I don't have time to tell you right now, but I promise I'll tell you everything about this when we get back. Go for it, WarGreymon!" My Digimon nodded and took to the skies and I chose not to hide my tears as I heard Sora's wail. 

"TAI! COME BACK!" 

As for Matt and the others, they barely managed to make it back to the Real World and into my dorm room. They all landed in a heap of tangled limbs. Sora, Davis, Ken and their Digimon landing right on top of them didn't help matters much. 

"What happened to Tai?" As everyone managed to untangle himself or herself, Kari repeated worriedly, "What happened to Tai?" Sora shook with tears as Biyomon tried to comfort her. 

"He…he's gone! WarGreymon flew off somewhere and he didn't tell me where he went!" 

All of a sudden, my computer glowed brightly with light. 

"Tai?" Sora asked, her eyes shining with tears and hope. 

"That would be impossible, seeing as how his Digivice can't operate the Digiport." Izzy noted. 

"Then it's gotta be Gennai." T.K. added. 

They were both wrong. Taichi stepped from the light and smiled evilly at them as his hands started glowing again. 

"Odaiba…I'm baaaaaaaaaaack…" 

WarGreymon landed near some trees and deDigivolved back to Agumon. 

"Patamon and Gatomon said he should be right around here. I wonder where he is." Agumon said. 

I shivered, wishing that I'd brought Sora and Biyomon with me. Suddenly, a bright light flashed in front of my eyes and I shielded them with my arm. 

I smiled as Azulongmon appeared before Agumon and me in all his glory. 

****

"Greetings, Taichi Kamiya. To what do I owe the honor of this visit?" 

Things don't look so hot for Sora and the others, do they? R&R! 


	7. Chap. VI-Retrieving Tai's Powers

Me: I don't own Digimon

Me: I don't own Digimon. I also don't own "My Way" by Limp Bizkit. Boy, I haven't used this song in a while! 

Tai: How long ago was it? 

Me: About a few months or so, give or take. Where's Sora? 

Tai: She's devouring everything in your fridge with Davis and Veemon.

Me: (irritated) WHAT?! Hey, you three! Come out of there! 

****

Digimon

The Return of the Evil Clone

Chap. VI-Retrieving Tai's Powers

"Greetings, Taichi Kamiya. To what do I owe the honor of this visit?" I smiled widely as Agumon and I looked at Azulongmon from afar, while I considered how to ask him what I needed to ask him. 

"Uh, it concerns Taichi, my clone. He's escaped the World of Darkness, and I'm afraid if he didn't try to come after me, he must be in the Real World by now. He was able to restore his Powers of Darkness." I explained. 

****

"Hmm, I see. And as you and your Digimon are now, you are quite defenseless against his strength." 

"He was able to hold off WarGreymon, Imperialdramon and Phoenixmon without breaking a sweat! There's gotta be someway we can even the odds." I was mad-mad at the fact that I'd let my clone get the better of me and almost have me end my relationship with Sora. 

****

"There might be one way you can defeat him, but I must warn you-it may require the loss of someone you care about, or you yourself may lose your life if you're not careful." A moment later, a beam of light appeared from out of nowhere and shaped itself into an orb. Then, it landed in my hands and started to glow brightly. I felt charged, surging with power running through my veins-power I hadn't felt since the first time Agumon Digivolved to Greymon. 

__

Special…

You think you're special, you do 

I can see it in your eyes

I can see it when you laugh at me, look down on me and walk around on me

"Biyomon Warp-Digivolve to…PHOENIXMON!!!" The massive Bird Digimon pretty much demolished our dorm room-mine and Matt's-but that took a back seat thanks to Taichi's sudden energy burst that Sora's partner took and absorbed, or at least, tried to. 

"You think this pathetic Digimon's going to protect you from these attacks? You're wrong!" Taichi increased the energy and _everyone _felt the heat! They all writhed in pain or struggled to fight it, like Davis, Matt, Ken and Sora. 

"It's a good thing I took care of your 'leader' before I came here." Lied Taichi calmly. Sora gasped in shock as one lone tear trickled down her cheek. 

"What-what do you mean?" 

"Simple: As he and WarGreymon flew off, I eradicated them both with one attack. I suspect their bones are spread out over the Digital World by now." 

"No…that can't be true. You're lying!" Sora screamed angrily as she struggled to hide her tears. 

"Perhaps I am…but whatever the outcome of this battle, things are _finally _going to go my way." 

Just one more fight about your leadership

And I will straight up leave your shit

'Cause I've had enough of this

And now I'm pissed…(Yeah!) 

Chorus: This time, I'm a let it all come out 

This time, I'm a stand up and shout

I'm a do things my way; it's my way

My way or the highway! 

This time, I'm a let it all come out

This time, I'm a stand up and shout

I'm a do things my way; it's my way

My way or the highway! 

As WarGreymon and I flew to the nearest Digiport, (where Gennai would meet up with us) he asked me a question that I hadn't understood at first, but I do now.

"Tai, why do you always have to fight with Sora and Matt?" 

"Hmm…I don't know, WarGreymon. I guess for a lot of complicated reasons. The reason Sora and I fight is because one of us usually gets the other angry for something that they did. But I know that even if I was mad with her, I'd risk my life to save Sora's. The reason Matt and I fight is even more complicated than with Sora. With Matt and I, it's like this: We've always clashed over everything-being leader of the DigiDestined, trying to find the others when Devimon split us up, routes to take, and finally, that battle when we added you and MetalGarurumon to the fight. To this day, I wonder if you would've won against him. The most dangerous fight we ever had was for Sora's heart. I thought I'd lost that one, but she figured out who'd been there for her since we first met, who saved her from Andromon, Datamon, who comforted her when she thought her Crest wouldn't glow, who protected her from Mammothmon, who promised her he'd never let anything happen to her outside of Puppetmon's mansion, who protected her from Machinedramon, and finally, Piedmon…me." 

After a moment of thought, WarGreymon smiled under his mask, although I couldn't tell that well. 

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Tai, you've _really _grown up!" 

"Thanks, WarGreymon. Look; there's Gennai! Head down!" 

Just one more fight about a lot of things

And I will give up everything to be on my own again

Free again…(Yeah!) 

Chorus: This time, I'm a let it all come out

This time, I'm a stand up and shout

I'm a do things my way; it's my way

My way or the highway

This time, I'm a let it all come out

This time, I'm a stand up and shout 

I'm a do things my way; it's my way

My way or the highway

Someday, you'll see things my way

'Cause you'll never know, no ya never know when you're gonna go

Someday, you'll see things my way

'Cause you'll never know, no ya never know…when you're gonna go…

The DigiDestined cried out as Taichi's burst of energy sent them all flying out of the partially destroyed building, but Phoenixmon grabbed them, as well as the other Digimon, and took to the skies with my clone behind her. 

"With my powers restored, this world will be mine before breakfast!" Taichi declared as he sent a beam of energy toward another building, which did all but completely destroy it! 

"That's it! We can't let Tai's clone get away with destroying the Real World!" Palmon insisted angrily. 

"She's right. We have to do something." Gabumon agreed. 

"But what can we do? His powers affect even our Mega Digimon. Our attacks barely even faze him." Kari replied. 

__

"If only Tai were here-we could be able to Warp-Digivolve our Digimon and DNA Digivolve them to Omnimon. Then _we could see just what he's made of!" _Matt thought to himself. 

__

"Tai…where are you? I need you by my side. I can't help but worry that Taichi was right, that he did kill you when I left you. Why didn't I go after you? No matter what happens Tai, I'll always love you!" Sora's Crest of Love started glowing and her Digivice shrieked as Phoenixmon glowed brightly. Back in the dorm room, my computer, which managed to escape destruction, glowed, then WarGreymon and I flew out of it! I leapt off my partner's back, then allowed my Digivice to guide me up to face my clone. 

"TAI!" I turned to see Sora and Kari, their faces streaked with dried tears and I smiled. 

That's when my hands started glowing a fiery orange color, the same color as my Crest of Courage. I whispered to Taichi in a cold voice that Matt could never match: 

"Things are gonna go _my way _from here on out." 

__

Just one more fight, and I'll be history

Yes, I will straight up leave your shit

And you'll be the one who's left missing me…(Yeah!) 

I sent a beam of Orange energy toward Taichi, who counterattacked with a beam of Dark energy. They collided and exploded the second they touched!! Taichi and I smiled broadly at each other. The playing field had been evened out. My Powers of Courage matched Taichi's, but could they exceed over his own? I truly hoped so…

__

Chorus: This time, I'm a let it all come out

This time, I'm a stand up and shout

I'm a do things my way; it's my way

My way or the highway

This time, I'm a let it all come out

This time, I'm a stand up and shout

I'm a do things my way; it's my way

My way or the highway

Someday, you'll see things my way

'Cause you never know, no ya never know when you're gonna go

Someday, you'll see things my way

'Cause you never know, no ya never know…

Trust me-Chap. VII-Courage against Darkness will be a moment in Taiora history! R&R! 


	8. Chap. VII-Courage against Darkness

Me: I can't believe I get these ideas

Me: I can't believe I get these ideas! They keep popping up in my head ever since I had that nap. I don't own Digimon by the way.

Sora: Did you sleep well? 

Me: Just like a snoozing baby! 

Tai: How can that be? 

Sora: (giggles) Tai, it's a metaphor! (eyes me strangely) Is it? 

Me: I think it is. 

(Tai and Sora groan) 

Tai: You've been hanging around Davis too long!

****

Digimon

The Return of the Evil Clone

Chap. VII-Courage against Darkness

I steeled myself, clenching my hands into fists over and over, waiting for Taichi to take the first move. I knew Sora was watching me from afar, worried that something would happen to me. I myself was scared that something would happen and I'd never get to see Kari graduate like she'd seen me graduate from the high school. I remembered the words of Azulongmon at that moment: **"I must warn you-it may require the loss of someone you care about, or you yourself may lose your life if you're not careful." **I rose my hand as quick as lightning and fired a hot blast of orange energy at Taichi, who quickly countered with a blast of Dark energy. Just as before, they collided and exploded, but this time, it caused even more damage to the building my clone already destroyed! 

"Give it up, Tai. We're both evenly matched, that's true, but eventually, you'll have to surrender to me sooner or later. A part of me sure wouldn't like it if Kari was left without a big brother to look after her, or if Sora was left without her one True Love to keep her safe from the dangers of this world and the Digital-AHHH!" Sick and tired of him ragging on Sora and Kari, I sent a beam of energy at Taichi's face, which seriously hurt him and caused some damage to his Digivice! 

"That's it, Tai! Take this jerk down for the count!" Davis yelled out. Making sure to not take my eyes off Taichi for a second, I nodded once to assure Davis that I'd heard him. 

"You can do it, Tai! Just have courage!" WarGreymon insisted. 

"We're all behind you, Tai! I'll always be by your side!" I turned my head for a few seconds and smiled at Sora, which caused her to blush. Without looking, I countered Taichi's attack with one of my own. The others gasped in amazement. 

"I thought Kari was the one with the 6th sense!" Davis said. 

"Apparently, it runs in the family." Izzy noted calmly. 

I smirked at Taichi, confident in my skills. "I think _you're _the one who should surrender. The sun's gonna be up soon, and I'm sure we both don't want the media catching wind of two Tai Kamiyas, right? My-excuse me, _our_-parents would freak out at this news." 

I didn't like the smile that crossed my clone's face a second later. 

"You've just given me an idea that I'm _sure _will cause your downfall! But, first things first-" Taichi suddenly disappeared, then reappeared by Sora, and grabbed her right off of Phoenixmon! 

"What the…? SORA!" I screamed angrily as I whirled around, poised to attack. Taichi's right hand glowed and he pressed it near Sora's head. 

"Ah-ah-ah! One wrong move, and you won't be able to help her bear children-ever!" 

I growled as I assessed the situation: Sora was trapped for a second time in the arms of this guy that just had to be pure evil! But, something nagged at me and told me that despite all this evil, there just had to be some good in him! It was just a matter of bringing out the goodness in him. The first thing I had to do was free Sora, though. Taichi laughed evilly as he took off with her still in his arms.   
"SORAAAAAAAAAAA!" 

"TAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"  
Near tears, I shot off after them at a fast rate with WarGreymon and Phoenixmon right by me. The others could do nothing but watch and wait for the sun to come up. 

"You've got a very determined boyfriend. He's already on our trail and I think he's deduced my plan of attack. What better way to destroy a young man than to get at his parents, who have no powers whatsoever?" Sora squirmed in his grip and struggled in vain to get free. 

"I wouldn't try to free yourself from my iron-clad grip, if I were you. The fall from here to the ground-you'd be lucky alone if it killed you; otherwise, you'd be left with extensive brain damage and internal bleeding." 

"Terra Force!!" 

"Crimson Flame!!" 

Taichi winced in pain as two Mega Digimon flew in to the rescue, with me perched on both of their backs, powering up for a big attack! I jumped off and tackled him before he had a chance to retaliate. The three of us spiraled toward the ground for a while; Sora trying to get up to me, me trying to reach her and Taichi actually keeping the two of us separated. 

I wrenched my hand free from my clone's grip and shoved a beam of energy deep into his back! He roared in pain as his grip on Sora was relinquished. I reached over him, grabbed her hand and held on tight. 

"WarGreymon! Phoenixmon! Get over here!" I yelled out heatedly. They both nodded and got under us, with Taichi close behind us. 

"Sora, do you trust me?" I asked. I knew she did; I wanted to be certain. She grazed me with a smile and a faint blush of pink on her rosy cheeks. 

"With all my heart." 

I smiled broadly as I pulled her up close to me long enough to give her a kiss that she wouldn't forget! I knew WarGreymon and Phoenixmon, who were still under us, would keep my clone distracted long enough for us to do this. When we broke apart, her eyes were glazed over in a dreamy look. 

__

"Perfect! As I do this, she shouldn't remember anything about this but the kiss." I steadied myself, then dropped her, the smile still in place on her face and on mine as Phoenixmon caught her. I mouthed a quick "I love you." To Sora as Phoenixmon flew off with WarGreymon, who dreamily waved back. Then, I turned my attention to Taichi. The two of us leapt for each other in midair! We traded blow for blow, punch for punch while suspended between heaven and earth-literally! That's when he suddenly disappeared again! I mentally cursed myself for not trying to take his Digivice when I had the chance. 

I pulled out my mini-telescope and noted that Sora was still safe next to WarGreymon and Phoenixmon. I almost wished that I'd told my partner to stay, but I knew he'd help me out better if he first got Sora to safety. Then he could come back to help me-if he knew where I was going. I sped as fast as possible to my house while I still had the chance to save them! 

My parents were preparing to have breakfast-Mom was making it; Dad was _dreading _it!-when the door flew off its hinges! They both gaped in shock as Taichi made his way inside. 

"Tai? Is that you?" Mom asked in amazement. 

"The name's not Tai, mother-its Taichi." His hand started glowing with Dark energy. 

"It's time to make the DigiDestined of Courage suffer for all that he did to me."   
"Not today!" I flew in and rammed my fist, which was glowing with orange energy, straight into Taichi's back! The two of us went skidding across the floor! I made sure to yell out, "Hi, Mom! Hey, Dad! How'd your day go?" as we headed to my room and crashed inside! As the two of us battled it out, the other DigiDestined came in from outside. Kari had figured out what Taichi had meant earlier, and Sora had recovered from my kiss just in time to confirm what Kari said. 

"Hi, Mom, Dad! Did we ever tell you that Tai has an evil twin brother?" Kari asked calmly. 

"I'm sure that's what all parents like to hear, 'Hi, Dad, Mom. How was your day? Oh, by the way, did I ever have a twin or something, 'cause he's been trying to kill me for the past four years and he's trying again?!" Matt joked. Irritated with him, Sora and Mimi elbowed him in the stomach. 

That's when they all heard a yell come out from my room-"DIGIPORT, OPEN!" A bright flash of light came out, and exploded into dark energy, then dissipated in the air. 

"TAI!" Sora, Kari and my parents rushed to my room to find it demolished, the computer smoldering with smoke and a message on its remains, which Sora read aloud. 

__

"'Prepare yourselves for a funeral, DigiDestined of Love. The next time we meet, your boyfriend will have passed on to the next world. I'm not talking about the World of Darkness-we're already there. 

Taichi.'

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" For what could've been the 50th time that day, Sora dropped to her knees and started crying, scared that her worst fears might have finally been confirmed. 

__

The World of Darkness hadn't changed that much since the last time I'd been here. If it was any consolation, as Izzy would say, it's gotten even more disastrous since the last time Kari, Ken or myself had been here! I looked around and found Taichi, a smug smile on his face. 

"Why'd you bring me here?" I demanded heatedly. True, Sora, Kari and my family were safe, but that wouldn't mean a thing so long as Taichi was still free. 

"I wanted you to feel the pain of defeat at the exact same world that you defeated me in-the World of Darkness! Ironic, isn't it? The exact same foe you defeated years ago gets his revenge in the exact same world in which you trapped him in!" I glared at Taichi, not wanting to hear his talk. He sounded like Matt-but with my hair. 

"If you want to battle, then let's get it over with!" 

"As you wish, but I must warn you-my powers are double here than what they are in the Digital World." The two of us fired beams of energy, but his was bigger than mine was! Within seconds, his overpowered mine and I felt pure pain emanating from that attack. 

I couldn't help myself as I let out a scream that rocked the World of Darkness to its core…

Back in the Real World, as the other DigiDestined were trying to get Sora calm, she suddenly yelled in pain. Biyomon and Agumon ran over to her.

"Sora, what's wrong?" Biyomon asked. 

"Is there something wrong with Tai?" Agumon added. 

"Tai…he's hurting. He can't stop the pain!" Sora cried out. 

"That's it! I'm not standing by while my buddy's being taken out by some clone with an attitude problem that's worse than Matt's is! I'm gonna get to that World of Darkness and help Tai out!" Davis growled angrily. Matt eyed Davis with a look, but said nothing. 

"How? You've never been there before." Kari said. Davis smiled in response. 

"True, but you have, T.K.'s been there, and so have Yolei and Ken. You guys can be my passport there and back!" Davis insisted. Izzy smiled. 

"I see where you're going with this, Davis. If each of you take someone as a buffer between worlds, it should make it easier for us to find Tai and get him out safely." 

"I'm going! I've got to save Tai!" Sora demanded heatedly. 

"That's two. Anyone else?" Izzy asked. 

"We're going!" Agumon and Biyomon chorused. 

"I can't let Tai have all the fun, right? Besides, I owe his clone some hits or two." Matt replied. 

"Now that we have our rescue team set up, let's go save Tai!" Davis advised. 

__

"Pitiful, in a way. I was hoping that with all the pain you've experienced in the past, that you'd be more of a challenge for me in this world, but without a friend to lend a hand, you're useless to the team. If you'd just let me remain in control, I would've led the DigiDestined to victories you can only imagine! Not only would we have taken out MaloMyotismon, but we could've defeated Daemon for good!" I shuddered as the pain increased. I wasn't able to generate an energy beam due to Taichi increasing his own. 

"The only thing…you would've led the DigiDestined to…was pure destruction! I wasn't letting you hurt Sora anymore and I'm not…gonna let you hurt any of my friends and family!" I was finally able to create a strong enough energy burst to deflect his and to overpower his own! 

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!" Taichi was sent flying back to the ground within seconds. As I looked up, the skies seemed to change color for a bit and I smiled as I saw Davis, Ken, Yolei, T.K., Kari, Sora, Agumon, Biyomon and Matt come flying downward. 

"What are you guys doing here?" I yelled out. 

"We weren't gonna let you have all the fun while the rest of us sat around at your house doing squat!" Davis replied. As Sora touched ground, she ran over to me and hugged me tightly, not letting go. 

"I was so scared that he'd taken you away from me, Tai." 

"Never, Sora. I'd never leave you and I'm not about to start breaking my promises now." 

That's where I could've been considered wrong if I wasn't explaining this to you now, but I digress. The skies suddenly turned even darker than they already were and we all looked upward in shock, Taichi included, as Daemon appeared, mad as hell and fully powered! 

"I think we're in for some major trouble now!" Davis exclaimed. I smiled as I pulled out Azulongmon's core from my pocket and passed it to Sora. It glowed brightly and she shivered a bit at the immense power it gave off. I knew her powers of Love were being restored to her. She didn't even need to pass it to anyone else; the beam from the orb hit Yolei, Davis, T.K., Kari, Ken and Matt moments later and restored their own powers. 

The nine of us-if you included Taichi-activated our powers and prepared for the battle of the Millennium! 

Chap. VIII-The Battle of the Millennium will be up soon so don't panic-yet! 


	9. Chap. VIII-The Ultimate Test

Me: I don't own Digimon, nor do I own "Do Ya Really Want To Play" off the Totally Pokemon CD

Me: I don't own Digimon, nor do I own "Do Ya Really Want To Play" off the Totally Pokemon CD. Who knew I'd be using music from differential CD's? 

Davis: What? 

Me: Never mind! I've used big words again, haven't I? 

Davis: Hey! What's that supposed to mean? 

Me: Nothing. Absolutely nothing at all.

****

Digimon

The Return of the Evil Clone

Chap. XIII-The Ultimate Test

(A/N: I know this chapter's supposed to be titled "The Battle of the Millennium," but, seriously, these battles have been outdated and I like my current title a whole lot better.)

__

Just look in my eyes, tell me you've got all that it takes and much more

All you gotta do is say

Stop telling me lies, show me with every move that you make you can score

Tell me that you want to play

You can feel it, but can't steal it 'cause boy, I got the magic touch

I stood alongside the other DigiDestined, poised for battle-Sora, Davis, Yolei, Kari, Matt, Ken, T.K., and as much as I hated to admit it, my own clone Taichi as we faced Daemon for possibly the final time. We all simultaneously rose our hands and they started glowing brightly with different colors that were symbolic to our Crests-those of us who had Crests. If I had any thoughts during this battle, it was this-we had _to win, because if we didn't, then the other DigiDestined who'd stayed behind didn't have a chance against Daemon's power. _

Chorus: Can you beat the best with the power you possess? 

Will you step up to the fight? 

Can you pass the test; are you frightened to confess that you just can't get it right? 

You can win or lose but you gotta pay your dues 

Step up or step away, do you really want to play? 

We all sent off multiple beams at Daemon as one big beam with Agumon and Biyomon at our side-and he deflected them all in one fell swoop! 

"That's…not possible!" Ken gasped out. 

"Why do you think we sent him here in the first place-so we could get rid of him!" Davis replied. 

"The next time we need to get rid of a Digimon who's got the fire capacity to destroy the Digital and the Real Worlds, we should just try outer space!" I said heatedly. 

"Face it, DigiDestined-you've lost! There's no way your powers can match up to my own! So just make it easier on yourselves and surrender peacefully." Daemon suggested. 

"Fat chance, pal! You want to conquer these worlds-you go through us!" I grasped Sora's hand and she held on to it tightly. I didn't even have to look down to see that our Digimon were Digivolving. 

"Agumon…

"Biyomon…" 

"Warp-Digivolve to…WARGREYMON!!!/PHOENIXMON!!!" 

"Okay, guys…LET'S GOOOOOOO!!!!!!" 

The challenge is yours, take it

You've backed down before, now prove to me you control your destiny

Keep it steady, get ready

Show me that you got the stuff

Chorus: Can you beat the best with the power you possess? 

Will you step up to the fight? 

Can you pass the test; are you frightened to confess that you just can't get it right? 

You can win or lose but you gotta pay your dues 

Step up or step away

With the assistance of our Digivices, we were able to successfully fly up toward our enemy and send multiple beams of energy at Daemon, which caused definite damage-but not enough to destroy him! I sighed as I took a deep breath, knowing what had to be done if we were to have any chance of winning. As I headed up toward Daemon with WarGreymon by me, Sora came and stopped me-and you've finally caught up to us.

"Tai…don't do it, please. He's too powerful for you to handle alone." 

I smiled and caressed her cheek gently with my hand. 

"I've got you by my side. That's all the extra power I need. Don't forget-I'll always love you." I bent down and gave Sora a kiss that could've shattered the heavens, if that were possible. A moment or so later, I pulled away and her dreamy state was soon broken by the sight of WarGreymon and me heading straight for Daemon! 

"Tai…NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Let yourself go-this is my show

Watch me when I play

Change your mind set and you'll get better every day

I conjured up a very powerful ball of energy and aimed it for Daemon, just as WarGreymon was powering up his own attack. 

"Ready, Tai?" 

"Always!" 

I sent the ball of energy off at Daemon just as WarGreymon sent his own. 

"TERRA FORCE!!!" 

The two attacks collided against Daemon and exploded with such tremendous force that I thought we'd finished him off for good! Unfortunately, that wasn't how it ended. He was still _alive, albeit, barely, but alive! _

Just as I was about to consider a kamikaze mission, I gasped in shock as Taichi shot right by me, a very powerful energy ball in his hands. 

Chorus: Can you beat the best with the power you possess? 

Will you step up to the fight? 

Can you pass the test; are you frightened to confess that you just can't get it right? 

You can win or lose but you gotta pay your dues 

Step up or step away…

"What are you doing?" I managed to cry out in shock. 

"Think about it-I'm supposed to be pure evil, yet I'm willing to give up my life so that you can live yours to the fullest. Doesn't that mean there's some good in me somewhere? Take care of our girl and always remember me-I am _a part of you after all." Before I could stop him, Taichi connected his energy beam, as well as his Digivice, to Daemon and an explosion that was twice as big as the one before it occurred! Everything went white for a moment…_

…Then, the next thing I knew, I was back at my dorm room! It looked normal again; even the missing wall was back! And so was everyone else! Before I could pull Sora into my arms, Gennai came back in through my computer. There was a solemn look on his face. 

Epilogue next up! R&R! 

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	10. A True Hero of Courage

Me: I don't own Digimon

Me: I don't own Digimon. I never thought I'd drag an epilogue out like this for so long, but I've finally got time to finish it up-for the time being. 

Tai: I'm glad! That means we can all kick back and relax in your house. 

Me: Over my dead body! 

Davis: That can be arranged. 

Me: I think not. 

Davis: Oh, yeah? 

Me: Yeah! 

(Davis and I get into a huge fight; the others are betting pools on who'll win) 

Tai: I've got $100 on DC! 

Kari: I may not like Davis, but he's younger and quicker, so I'll see that bet. 

Yolei: Me too! 

Sora: Make it $200 for DC! 

****

Digimon

Epilogue-A True Hero of Courage

The team and I gave Gennai some room inside the tiny dorm room, as his solemn look didn't fade away. I knew what had happened to my clone, since he was a part of me, but I needed to hear it from his lips that he was gone. Sora eventually popped the question, and I'm not talking about marriage. 

"Is he…?"

"Yes. Tai knew what would've happened if he had sacrificed himself, as did his clone, so in order for things to be set right, Taichi sacrificed _himself _so that Tai could live and love to the fullest." 

Sora was struggling to hide her tears, as was I. If it weren't for Taichi, she would be in a deep depression over my death, if I had died while taking on Daemon. 

"Thanks, Gennai." 

"Anytime…Taichi." 

I separated myself from the others to get some downtime on my own, but someone wanted to make sure that nothing happened to me and I knew who it was even before I'd left the building. 

My thoughts were my own, but they were as close to hers as hers were to mine. My clone had done the ultimate sacrifice for us as well as the Digital World, our Digimon and the Real World. That in itself took real courage to pull off. In effect, Taichi was a true hero for us-a hero of Courage. 

"You know just as well as I do why Taichi sacrificed himself, Sora. If I'd gave up my life, you'd be contemplating suicide, so my sacrifice would've been in vain. Taichi was a clone of me, so he couldn't very well exist in my place for one main reason-he had a very dangerous and destructive dark side to combat with, and his was more demanding than the dark side inside me. There would've been no way for him to ever win against it, because he'd been made from all the evil thoughts I'd had. And two Tais can't exist in the same place in the same time. Do you understand?" 

I could feel Sora eyeing me with a look of wanting. That's how we connected so well-she knew my thoughts almost instantly, and vice-versa. 

"I think I do, Tai. In a way, I am sad that your clone died to save us, since he was a part of you. But, in another way, I'm glad that it wasn't you who had to die. I prefer kissing the real thing to just another carbon-copy." I couldn't help but smile broadly as I pulled her close to me for a kiss…then a tiny flash of light temporarily blinded me. When my vision was restored, I saw a giggling Kari on the sidelines. 

"Why you little…" Laughing, I shot toward her like a jet. She ran off, but I didn't let up. I heard Sora giggling up a storm behind me and I knew things would be all right. Taichi would always be a part of me because his essence was in me. In the end, the good won out over the evil like it always had and it always would. 

****

Each of us has a good side and an evil side within us

Good and evil continually war inside us during the choices we make

Occasionally, the good wins out; in other instances, evil reigns supreme

But, no matter the outcome, when all is said and done, 

Good will triumph against evil once and for all…


End file.
